


Cryptaesthesia

by tnnyoh



Category: Hitman (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fear, Gen, Ghosts, Horror, Monsters, Mystery, Ohio, Paranormal, Spirits, Supernatural - Freeform, Supernatural Elements, The Starlight Inn, based on real locations, not the show supernatural, please stop tagging it as that a03
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:37:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15956102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tnnyoh/pseuds/tnnyoh
Summary: When 47 is contracted to a target in a small town in Ohio, he finds he's out of his element as strange events follow him and Diana Burnwood.





	Cryptaesthesia

**Oak Park, Ohio**

“Alan” Colin called out to his son, Alan turned to face his father “Yes?”

“Can you please stop running?” He asked, the pair were on their weekend walk through the park and he had made the mistake of going for ice cream with Colin beforehand and as such his son was a little hyper. 

“Alan” He said again, firmer this time.  Alan looked at his father while still walking backwards. He laughed.

“I’m sorry dad” He stopped and let his father catch up to him “I’m just so excited to see you again”  He smiled and Colin put a hand on his son’s shoulder

“I know son, it’s been too long. These business trips are getting to me, you know?” 

“I thought you were going to quit, you keep talking about it.” 

They started walking along the path again, it was late August and the weather was still warm enough to go out without wearing a jacket and yet there was a chill in the air this afternoon

“It’s a little more complicated than just quitting. I have to put in my two weeks notice, I was thinking… When I do finally quit, we can all move house.  Going somewhere new might be the best thing for our family”

Alan laughed, the innocent sound of a child’s laughter “Where would we go?”

“Maybe go out west, see what the world has to offer outside of this small Ohio town” Colin said, the path started to lead deeper into the woods and he felt goosebumps on his arms, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the weather, it was a warm 80 degrees. So there should have been no reason for the sudden cold. 

“I wasn’t aware there was a life outside Ohio” Alan hesitated “I’m not attached or anything, I don’t have any friends in school, the neighbors hate me”

“They do not hate you” Colin said, placing the phone back in his pocket and looking at his son 

“Could have fooled me, ding dong ditching, laughing at me, pulling my pants down, throwing dirt in my face” 

“That… okay, maybe they do hate you a little bit” He shook his head “But it doesn’t matter. We’ll be moving, we’ll find a way to get a new place and we’ll all be a family again”  The path was now deeper, darker and overgrown with trees, touching at the tops and blocking out any light from the sky, giving the illusion of night time and making it seem a lot colder than should have. 

“Hey, when did it get so dark?” He said "I don't remember this part of the path, Alan... Stay close" He said, his son obliged and walked back to his father's side.  

Suddenly a loud crash sounded somewhere through the woods, and a sound like a whip cut through the air. It was starting to get chilly on the path, and the man and his son turned to go back the way they came, only...

"Where is the entrance?" Alan asked his father, the fear in his voice noticeable "It looks like… nothing but trees now” 

"Now, calm down Alan, we just... got turned around. We'll be fine, Just have to get our bearings..." They heard a twig break behind them and sounds of screaming in the distance

"Dad, what was that?"

"Just...take my hand Alan, everything is going to be okay" He repeated, hoping this time he'd believe it as well.  He slowly tried to reach into his pocket to grab his phone but he felt frozen to the spot and he felt a breath on the back of his neck, hot and wet, like an oversized dog.  But it seemed to turn its attention quickly to the child. 

"Alan, Run!" He shouted.  Alan was fixed to the spot as an unseen assailant began ripping him to pieces.

* * * *

47 looked out the train window as the rain pounded against it, turning his attention back to the novel he had taken with him.  A posthumous continuation of the Cassandra Snow novels, it appeared that Craig Black had left many notes and a half-finished novel for the fourth and last book in the series, his nephew took it upon himself to construct it into a proper story.

"Are you settled in alright, 47?" Diana's voice came over the comm

"Yes" He answered

"I see you're enjoying the 'Final Goodbye' novel in the Cassie Snow series," She said with a specific tone that he knew meant she was mocking him

"I like this one better, I think that Craig Black's nephew turning Cassandra's reunion with her father into something more sinister to show that he isn't, and never will be, a good man is very creative and well written"

Diana chuckled "Quite the book reviewer"

"Well, you've read part of the series. Is it realistic that Cassandra would so easily forgive someone who caused her so much pain?"  He cleared his throat "I never would"

There was a lull in the conversation, 47 had the train compartment to himself so he was unafraid to speak freely to Diana over the comm, he looked around anyway and then back at the book.

"Listen to this," He said, picking a page he had read previously and read it aloud

"Cassandra had been overwhelmed with the idea her father could have been a good man, She was desperate to believe it and it almost cost her everything that she held dear." He turned the page 

“Forty-seven, you don’t need to read the-” Diana started but he cut her off quickly by reading the next passage.

"'Cassandra' Her father said softly 'You know that I would never hurt you, All that I have done, I have done for you'. Cassandra scoffed as she realized what the truth was, she could see it in his stone cold eyes. 'You are a monster' She exclaimed 'You are not my father, and I don't think you ever have been. You didn't want what was best for me... You only, and selfishly wanted what was best for you' Her hair blew in the wind as she spat the acidic words out at the man in front of her, how foolish was she to believe the man who had caused her so much anguish was ever capable of love? She turned away for the final time from her former father, mentor, and captor. 'Life is not a prison cell' She said without turning back 

'It's a free and open expanse, where I can do what I want, and I don't have to be here with you, you've made my childhood absolute hell and all my adult life you tried to brainwash me into doing whatever you wanted, even the sick murders you committed in the name of what... Father?' the last words bitterly spilled out of her mouth as the wind howled in her ears

'It was for you, Cassandra. It was always for you, I don't even recognize you anymore. My own child and she's broken my heart' He said, his voice somber and low. Cassandra froze, and then in one swift motion she unsheathed the blade and threw it with all her might at the man, lodging it within his heart. He keeled over in surprise, choking and gasping on his own blood.  Cassandra made her way to the man's writhing form and spit on him 'You don't have the heart to break' she said, kneeling beside him 'Goodbye father, you've hurt me for the last time' She grabbed his head in her hands and twisted until she heard the sickening crunch of his neck snapping. And so it was that her father, the Gentlemen Killer, was no more."

"That all sounds a little familiar" Diana remarked "But it is much better written than Craig Black could have"

"Maybe his nephew read my file" 47 joked as he put the novel down and cleared his throat.  It was true that the new Cassandra Snow novel greatly mirrored his own struggles with his creator, Ort-Meyer.  Even down to the way the man was murdered, maybe that was why he felt a stronger connection to the novel than the previous ones in the series.  He turned his attention back to the window, the rain having calmed down and only leaving little droplets lazily slinking down the glass.

He was headed to a small town in Ohio,  For what purpose he wasn't sure of as Diana had informed him that she would keep the briefing until he arrived on site. Which wasn't normal for her.

"Not the usual, and I promise I will tell you when you get there." Diana had said "It's not every day you get to go to a small town"

He was inclined to agree. Apparently, he was staying at a rather dingy motel that only had one star and the worst reviews possible on any booking site.

"Tell me again why I'm staying at this motel," He asked as the train rolled along the tracks.

"It's to lay low, also the director doesn't want to pay for higher amenities" She admitted "We've hit a budget issue this month"

"The ICA has budgetary problems? You rake in half the money the agents make for each hit"

"Well, this month has been rather light on contracts and the ICA director doesn't like you" She admitted with a light chuckle

"Surprising," He said, his voice filled with sarcasm "It seems like no ICA director has ever liked me. Soders, Travis.."

"Well no, it's because you're too perfect," She said "Nobody likes perfection, it makes people nervous," She said, echoing the words of former training director, Erich Soders

"I don't make you nervous" He took a sip of the water sitting on the tiny pull out table "Do...I?" He asked after a moment

"I believe that line of questioning is inappropriate"

"It was  _ innocent _ , Diana. It wasn't like I was asking if you had ever had sexual intercourse on a train"

"Forty-seven!" She said, he could tell by her tone that her face had likely gone pink, for some reason this knowledge made him smirk, though he knew she couldn’t see him.

"What? I was providing an example of something that is truly inappropriate. Now my question looks quite tame in comparison, doesn't it?"

"I... I... 47, I will speak to you when you reach the destination" She said, cutting the connection and leaving him all alone in the train compartment.

 

* * * *

 

As the train pulled into the station, he tapped on the comm in his ear. The static started up again and Diana's voice came through "Alright, I gave you the directions of the motel. The Starlight Inn. We've arranged for a car to pick you up in about ten minutes"

"You can spring for a car, but the motel has to be infested with roaches?"

Diana chuckled "It could be nice for all you know, and besides. I thought you were monk-like. It doesn't matter where you stay"

"Generally speaking, I like to be clean and stay in clean places. Judging from the photographs on the website, this place is going to be a mess"

"At least it's not the Wakiti Inn," Diana said with a laugh.  The Wakiti Inn was a former Hotel in Hope, South Dakota before it was blown up by Benjamin Travis' rogue assassin hit squad, it was where 47 had stayed while traveling to find Victoria and rescue her from Blake Dexter.

"And I hope for your sake, that it has better,  _ less revealing _ robes," She said

"I very deeply regret letting you into my apartment" 47 said with a head shake

"You went through an explosion, traipsed through a cornfield with no shoes on and yet you still decide to keep the robe? I'd have thrown it out"

"It's a souvenir," He said simply "I keep it to remind me of what I survived"

"Was that the explosion or losing me?" She asked

"Both"

Diana hesitated for a moment before responding "That's... very sweet, Forty-Seven"

"I am famously known for my softer side"

Their conversation was cut short when a black car pulled up near the station.  The driver, a woman wearing sunglasses, rolled down the window "Tobias Rieper?" She said

"Yes"

"47, I will contact you again when you arrive at the destination, have a nice drive" Diana's voice came through the com before clicking off

"Get in, I'm supposed to take you to the Starlight," The driver said, rolling the window back up. He obliged and got into the back seat of the car. The woman started the engine again and headed for the main road.

“Look out the window,” The driver said after about twenty minutes of silence “There’s a so-called haunted house up that way. The Van Wynter house… Said to be haunted by the family after Regina Van Wynter went psycho and drowned her entire family in the bathtub”

“Sounds charming,” 47 said, disinterested.  The drivers never tried to make small talk before, and if they did, he quickly shut it down.  He wasn’t here to make nice with employees of the ICA. He was here to do a job.

“Something interesting about that house, it’s been adapted in many novels, Even the Cassandra Snow series used that home as inspiration for Cassandra’s aunt’s home.”

“Is that where she gets her name from? Regina Snow?”

“Yes, actually it is!” She said happily “I love those books, such a great series.”

“I prefer the first two, the third one isn’t great”

“Because of the stupid reunion subplot with her father? I know right, it was so stupid” She said, taking a left turn out onto a side road “She’s going to look the Gentleman Killer in the eyes and forgive him after how he locked her in the meat freezer? I mean his own daughter”

 

“I haven’t finished it, but the fourth novel seems to be making up for that. Written mostly by his nephew, working from an old draft of what would have been Craig Black’s novel”

“Before his unfortunate demise, I suppose”

“Exactly”

“Can’t believe Craig Black was in a cult” She shook her head “It’s always the creative types”

She laughed "That's so odd" She made a right turn "Everyone who talks about you always says you're so... weird"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking out the window. the rain was lightly pattering against the glass

"Well, they say you don't talk much"

"I don't"

"And that you don't have many friends"

"Friendship is not part of my contract with the ICA"

"But you know...everyone gets lonely from time to time." She said matter-of-factly, 47 wasn't exactly sure what she was trying to get out of this conversation but he was starting to feel a twinge of irritation from the direction she was taking the conversation.

"Are we almost at the motel?"  He asked, the irritation he felt wasn't discernible from his voice, but he assumed she got the idea.  She coughed "Uh, yeah. We're coming up on it right about...now" She made a turn and pulled into the parking lot of a run down looking motel, he could see from the car window that one of the letters that spelled out Starlight was missing.  He grabbed his phone and opened the door to the car. It was raining a little harder now and he pulled the hood of his coat up to protect him from getting soaked on the way to the reception desk.

"Hey," The driver said "About that.. back there. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry"

"No harm was done"

"And for the record, I don't think you're weird at all" She gave him a smile as she started to pull the car back into drive to leave the parking lot "Good luck," She said

Diana's voice returned in his ear "Have you arrived at the destination?" She asked, a mere formality of course, as he knew she could ping his location from where she was

"Yes, I'm just getting ready to-"

"Hah" A gruff voice from behind him cut him off "Looks like that girls got the hots for you" He inexplicably slammed his hand down against 47's shoulder in some sort of gesture.

"Excuse me?" He turned to face the man, who had a lecherous look on his face, He was a portly man with half his face covered in burns

"Welcome to the Starlight Inn," He said with a chuckle "Come on, I'll get you all checked in.  Shame your girlfriend didn't come in with you"

"She was my driver"

"Huh, a lady driver? Ya learn something new every day"

"Today was the first day you learned that women can drive cars?" 47 asked eyebrow raised "You don't appear to get out much"

The man's expression changed, he looked rather affronted and grunted something 47 couldn't hear "Anyway, come on in and let's get you a room.  You hear on business or something?"

"Something"

"Ah, meeting a lady of the night here?"  He said, his disturbed grin returning as he turned to walk back towards the Inn, 47 reluctantly followed the man

"Trying to hide your affair from the wife?" He spoke again, 47 was unresponsive but he could hear Diana stifling laughter in his ear

"I am unattached" He finally answered "But if I were to have a significant other, I would not be meeting a stranger in a seedy motel. I would be at home with them."

"Ah, so you're uh... a friend of uh, Dorothy there, huh?" He asked as they entered the motel and he stepped behind the reception desk "Guess I'll handle this, Chester would usually be here but he's... I dunno where he is"

"Who is Dorothy?" 47 asked as he looked around, the motel was less disgusting on the inside, or at least a little less dilapidated, at least it was a better put together establishment than Ort-Meyer’s Asylum for Troubled Clone Children, and that was saying something.

"Ah. Yeah" He responded, eyeing 47 "I'm going to put you in room 4 which is upstairs, the key is here and... Keep it on you at all times because I only have one copy of that" He pulled a key from a chain and slapped it down on the table "We're pretty lax here on noise, just try not to disturb the other guests"

"There are other guests? The parking lot looked quite empty"

"Of course there are other guests ya wise-ass, We usually get a lot around midnight"

"Not unsettling in the least," 47 said, dryly

"I assume I don't need to show you to your room?"

"No, I can find it fine"

"Alright," The man said, muttering to himself as 47 went to the stairs "Damn good thing he doesn't have a wife, what an unlucky broad she'd have to be" He shook his head as he replaced the key ring under the desk.

He found the door to his room and tried the key, it didn't click in the lock so he pulled it out and looked, the key was engraved with a seven on it.

"Huh, together your room number and the key number make... 47," Diana said with a laugh

"He gave me the wrong key.." He said studying the key "Can't I just..." He stepped away from the door and slammed into it with his shoulder quite a few times before it finally budged and flew open.

"First night here and you've already broken something, Trying to break a record, 47?"  

"Yes, I wish to be the person who speaks to that man downstairs the least"

"Ah yes, he was rather unpleasant"

47 crossed into the room and pushed the door shut. The room was small and decorated with bright orange wallpaper that he assumed must have been here since the seventies, there was a small mini fridge that looked older than he was and a rough carpet that probably hadn't been replaced since the building opened

"Not bad," Diana said

"It's a place to sleep, at least. Not that I will"

"Yes, well, it's a place to lay your head. Anyway, this is the perfect opportunity to discuss why you're here"

"To kill a target"

"Please do not say 'kill' so freely in a motel full of people"

"I'm alone" He reminded her "And I've never known you to reprimand me for anything"

"Yes well, that man downstairs seems to be the type to install cameras and microphones in all the rooms so he can watch the female guests"

47 grunted as a response and sat on the bed, it was rather firm, firmer than he expected to be in a low-rate motel that was peeling paint off the sides of the building.  It was certainly more comfortable than anything he had slept on in the Asylum.

"Intel?" He asked.  He didn't usually go into contracts blindly, but Diana had informed him she was going to wait until he landed on site to give him the full story

"Our client's name is Colin Rhodes, Six months ago his son was brutally killed at the local park. He wants to know why.  And, Forty-seven, this is  _ not  _ a normal case. Mr. Rhodes believes that there is something supernatural behind his son's death"

"And he can't call the Winchesters for that?"

Diana gave a small laugh "Very funny, forty-seven. He said during the call that he was aware it was a lot to ask. That there may be a normal explanation for what has happened, but he believes it to be supernatural and he's offered to pay a handsome amount to any agents willing to investigate"

47 groaned "This is why you didn't tell me before I came here?" He got up off the bed and paced around the motel "Diana, I'm not a private investigator. I'm a-" He looked around and lowered his voice "hired killer"  He shrugged, despite knowing she wouldn't be able to tell he was doing so "If there's no target, there's no job"

"I took this job because it seems a bit...odd"

"So are you telling me that you believe in the paranormal?"

"No, quite the opposite, actually. I think Mr. Rhodes must be suffering from some sort of trauma, I believe there is a target involved and I believe that your investigation will lead us to whoever killed the man's son"

"You want me to humor him?"

"Exactly," She said "You'll be meeting with Mr. Rhodes tomorrow"

He sat back down and stared at the motel's off-putting wallpaper, faded orange and blue colored roses "Meeting with a client? And how does the board feel about this one? This isn't exactly... by the book, as you say."

"Usually the board frowns upon meeting with the clients, but they are willing to make a special exception to this case based on how much money Rhodes is willing to spend. He called the local police, he called the FBI and they all hung up on him, frightened that he'd end up in the loony bin, he called us, we were the only ones who took his case"

"Diana, this is not what we do.  Ghost hunting is not in my job description"

"But infiltrating is, and that's all you'll be doing. Get close to the client, find out anything you can, and it will lead you to our target." She said, matter-of-factly

"I can't believe you've kept this from me" He sighed

"If I had told you, you wouldn't have taken the job,  I know you can do this 47, you've taken weirder jobs before"

"I suppose you're right... Like that-"

"Do not say Gary Busey again!" She said, a warning tone in her voice "For the last time, Forty-Seven, that was a dream"

"Alright, Diana, whatever you say, but have you seen Gary Busey in any films lately?"

"Ugh" She groaned "I'm going to cut contact, You should get some rest and we'll reconnect in the morning." She said and he grunted in agreement

"And 47," She said "Do remember to turn off the contacts"

On occasion, 47 would forget from time to time to remove the little contacts from his eyes that allowed Diana to see everything from his perspective, she would get a live feed directly from his contacts as well as any audio from the tiny receiver placed in his ear.

"Just because it's on, doesn't mean you have to watch," He said evenly "I assume you go home at some point"

There was a pause before he continued

"Or do you just spend time at the ICA after hours to spy on me?"

"I will contact you tomorrow morning, Forty-Seven." She said, a twinge of embarrassment in her voice as she cut the communications

  
  



End file.
